Workin' For The Sun
by MarcusJuniusBrutus
Summary: Inspired by a section of Carrying the Banner. Short hopefully humourous prequel about Denton.


A/N: I do not own "Newsies" or it's characters. Just in case there was any doubt.

Workin' for _The Sun_

"Hey, Denton, great article!"

Bryan Denton smiled wryly at his coworkers. "Sure, but our paper won't be the only one covering the fire."

Miss Conlon, the young blond secretary, approached with a cup of coffee for Denton. "What fire?" she inquired curiously.

He took the coffee. "It was a pretty big one, near your old neighborhood in Brooklyn. It destroyed two apartment buildings and injured several people. One old man name Maguire died in it."

"Do you think it's an important story?"

He shrugged carelessly. "Our editor thought so."

"So did the editor of _The World_," Dave Ruben put in. "He let Denton's old pal Harry Kuehn write the story for his front page story."

Denton scowled at the mention of this man. Kuehn had once stolen Denton's notebook and published his story in _The World_. "Well, there's nothing I can do about it."

"You write better than him, anyway," Miss Conlon declared.

Dave shook his head. "Actually, there _is_ something you can do about it…"

…Later That Day…

"Is there a reason you're hanging around my building, Denton?"

"Not really, Harry. I just needed a bench to sit down on while making some last-minute changes to my article."

The short, pudgy man edged closer. "I thought you always finished your work hours before deadline."

"Usually. I did finish an article on that Brooklyn fire, but I found a better story that I want to use instead."

"Did you? What is it?"

Denton laughed heartily. "Oh, come on, Harry. We're newspapermen; I know I can't trust you not to get your own scoop on the subject. Besides, you can read all about it this morning in _The Sun_." He folded up the yellow paper on which he had scribbled a rather dull article and put it in the pocket of his suit jacket.

Then removed the jacket and threw it over the arm of the bench. "Sure is hot today," he commented, perhaps a bit too dramatically.

"Yeah, it'll be a killer this afternoon." Harry's nostrils flared angrily as he stared at the jacket pocket. He was obviously curious about the article and frustrated that he could not get at it. Denton could almost see the thoughts churning in his Kuehn's head as he plotted a way to get at it.

The _World_ reporter forced himself to amble away and appear casual. "Hey, I think our headlines are going up early today."

Denton approached the gate, leaving his jacket on the bench, and stared up at the big chalkboard. He nearly laughed out loud when he heard the rustle of the article changing pockets behind him. "No, they're just cleaning it." He turned back, grabbed his jacket, and walked away. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, Harry, but I should get this article to the office."

"Sure, Denton. I'll see you around." Kuehn wore a predatory smirk as he waved goodbye, and the other reporter returned to his newspaper.

"Hook, line, and sinker," he reported smugly.

He was congratulated profusely by everyone who was quite sure that Henry Kuehn would soon be out of a job with _The World_.

Hours later, _The World_'s Newsies read the headline "Trolley Strike Drags on for 3rd Week" and grew outraged.

"You call that a headline?"

"That won't pay!"

"I get better stories from the copper on the beat!"

"I was gonna start at twenty now a dozen'll be plenty."

"Tell me, how'm I gonna make ends meet?"

"We need a good assassination! We need an earthquake or a war!"

"How 'bout a crooked politician?" suggested one of the younger boys enthusiastically. He was greeted by a bombardment of caps.

"Hey, stupid, that ain't news no more!"

Eventually, conspiracy theories erupted amidst other news.

"Look, they're puttin' up the headline."

"They call that a headline?"

"The idiot who wrote it must be workin' for the Sun!"

"Did ya hear about the fire? Heard it killed old man Maguire!"

"Heard the toll was even higher. Why do I miss all the fun?"

Back in his office, throwing darts at a picture of Harry Kuehn, Denton had to admit that he was having a _lot_ of fun.

The End

_Gracie Jane- Thanks for the kind review. I was really surprised that I got one so quickly, and I appreciate it._

_Resist Gravity- No worries; I don't think I could _stop_ writing if I tried._


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